Marni / Spring 2013 RTW

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The discreet use of a single sculpted brooch, with a few metal fronds, recalling the art-conceptual jewelry of the fifties and sixties. That might seem like the smallest place to start when considering Consuelo Castiglioni’s wonderfully grown-up and sophisticated collection for Marni for next spring, yet, in many ways, it’s the most signigicant. The label that brought monumental novelty jewelry to a whole new level (like necklaces made out of what looked like plastic toys with fragments from an Alexander Calder mobile) this season focused, instead, on this one sole adornment. It was indicative of the reductivism that was driving Castiglioni’s thinking behind spring. There was a dramatic clean sweep to the proceedings, and should you follow her lead, this is how things will shape up: You will want a voluminous cotton blouse, cut with a hem that curves at the front like a shirttail, and is rigorously straight at the back. To this you will add a billowing skirt whose fullness is created from soft folds of fabric that undulate in the most delightful way when you walk. There might be an evening dress, cut from a black damask cotton so that it flows away from the body, but with a control that is exemplary, meaning you won’t get lost in it. And to wear with all this? Discreet thick-strapped leather sandals which rest on a (non-platform) sculpted metal-edged wedge, and an understated, graphic, bicolored saddlebag in hand.

Of course, if every one of us had a dollar, euro, or pound sterling for every time we’d noted “graphic,” “geometric,” and “sculptural” in our notebooks, we’d have enough to solve Europe’s debt crisis. Yet, for all this cross-city consensus on stripping away the layering, and the jeweling, and the cacophony of pattern, and the quirky-cool finishing touches, few have been able to really make this translate into clothes that didn’t feel too cold, clinical, or (sometimes, surprisingly perhaps) commercial. Things are getting simpler, but we all still want a little soulfulness to make an emotional connection to what’s on offer. As of now, Castiglioni’s efforts gave the most straightforwardly alluring and charming way to think about dressing for the season ahead from Milan. To avowed Marni-ites, this could be disappointing. Where was the wit and whimsy, the craziness and kookiness? Castiglioni didn’t abandon it entirely, she just kept it on a tight leash. There were prints that recalled the iconic Marni patterns of old—a check inspired by Bauhaus artist Anni Albers, a repeat of half circles whose linearity created a striking pleated effect, and a gorgeous, full-blown Josef Frank-ian chrysanthemum floral, sometimes edged or faced with sequins for good measure. After all, simple doesn’t necessarily mean an absence of sparkle.